A lack of security from security forces - Stars N' Stripes

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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=21786

Iraqi police recruits last year would take fire from men trying to kill them and refuse to shoot back, according to Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division.

It wasn’t for fear, loyalty to kinsmen or self-sacrificial kindness.

“They thought that if they killed someone, they might be responsible to pay the blood money,” Dempsey said.

The fix was relatively simple. The Iraqi Interior Ministry put out a letter stating officially that police would not be responsible for paying blood money, a form of compensation in Iraqi tribal law.

But that early difficulty with police, hired and trained by the U.S. military, foreshadowed the continuing problems with the entire Iraqi security force, some of whom declined to muster, refused to fight, abandoned their posts and even joined the other side during recent battles, especially in Fallujah.